James Maloney MP has introduced a motion in the Canadian House of Commons.Motion TextThat, in the opinion of the House, the government should recognize the important contributions that Irish-Canadians have made to building Canada, and to Canadian society in general, and should mark the importance of educating and reflecting upon Irish heritage and culture for future generations by declaring the month of March as Irish Heritage Month.

I Wish I Had Someone To Love Me’. Brian says: “I wanted to record this song the second I heard it, originally it was written about 100 years ago and first performed as a country song but over the years, like architecture, it changed its shape with the times.Johnny Cash sang it, Imelda May and The Dubliners carried the torch and now I want to sing it as an anthem for the isolated lost and lonely in these unprecedented times of disconnection. We need the medicine of music more than ever, especially from the radio.”

The Irish WhalesOlympians of Old New YorkKevin MartinIn the early 1900s, the Olympic Games track and field throwing events were dominated by a group of Irish-born weight throwers representing the United States. Of immense size and with a larger-than-life presence, these athletes came to be known as the “Irish Whales.”In The Irish Whales: Olympians of Old New York, Kevin Martin shares the untold story of these Irish American athletes who competed with unparalleled distinction for the United States. James Mitchell, John Flanagan, Martin Sheridan, Pat McDonald, Paddy Ryan, and Con Walsh won a total of eighteen medals in the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1924 and completely dominated the world stage in their chosen athletic disciplines. They were lionized in the American and Irish press and became folk heroes among Irish-American immigrant communities. Almost all of these men were further distinguished by their membership in the fabled Irish American Athletic Club of New York and careers with the New York Police Department.The story of the Irish Whales is the very embodiment of the American Dream and exemplifies the triumph of many Irish emigrants in the New World. Featuring a wonderful collection of original photographs, The Irish Whales tells the dramatic stories of these international athletes and their extraordinary sporting successes.

Michelle LallyMichelle is a singer from Galway who has toured the world extensively and has performed in many renowned venues such as the Bejing Opera House, the House of Congress, the White House (for President's Bush and Obama) and more recently has performed as part of the opening act for the Rolling Stones in Slane.

Lacrosse was played by the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora (the Six Nations) long before European settlers set foot on the continent and eyes on the sport. Living in what’s now the St. Lawrence Valley straddling Quebec, Ontario and upstate New York, they belong to the transborder Haudenosaunee Confederacy and compete as the Iroquois Nationals.“Our mandate is peace, friendship and healing,” says Lyons. “That’s what we’re governed by. Those are our fundamental values. We have a ‘medicine game.’ It’s our game.”There may be no better ambassadors for any sport than the Iroquois Nationals are for lacrosse.“We’re always the unsung heroes,” says Lyons. “Our merchandise is the first to sell out at every world event. We’re the underdogs. Against all odds, we’re competing at a world level and winning medals.”The World Games invited the top eight women’s lacrosse teams in 2017. It was a success, so the men were up next for Birmingham. They invited the top sides that met the proposed Olympic criteria: Australia, Canada, Germany, Britain, Ireland, Israel, Japan and the host United States. The Iroquois Nationals were not invited.The Iroquois women aren’t highly ranked, but for the men — rated third in the world — it was a slap in the face.“The World Games were looking at the Iroquois as a roadblock (to the Olympics), rather that seeing the glass half full and what we bring to the table,” says Lyons.Meanwhile, because of the pandemic, the 2021 World Games became the 2022 World Games, with the Tokyo Olympics moved to 2021. That meant there was more time to lobby to reverse the decision. That’s when Ireland stepped in. The Irish, the lowest seed, have a keen sense of right and wrong and immediately said they would step aside.“It was the right thing to do,” says Michael Kennedy, chief executive officer of Ireland Lacrosse, who’d canvassed the 30 or so leaders of Irish lacrosse. “It was unanimous. We said we want to do whatever it takes to support the inclusion of the Iroquois.“There’s way more for the sport to gain with the Iroquois’ inclusion than there was for including Ireland.”It strengthened relations between the Irish and the First Nations of North America, a connection that dates back to the 1840s and the potato famine. Back then, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, impoverished themselves, sent $170 to starving Irish families. The Irish never forgot.“There’s a silver-feathers sculpture in Ireland to commemorate that,” says Kennedy. “There’s a fantastic connection. It’s amazing, that history between ourselves and First Nations people.”This year, the Irish had a fundraising campaign for First Nations that were hit hard by COVID-19.“It was never our intention to have Ireland have to withdraw,” says Lyons. “We have quite a bond and friendship that is only going to get stronger.”Ireland’s tricolours — green, white and orange — will still be at the World Games. After the gracious act, the Iroquois Nationals changed the colours of their eagle logo from purple and gold to those on the Irish flag as a public gesture of gratitude. The Irish are also launching their lacrosse shirts in Iroquois colours. Everyone is splitting the proceeds to help youth lacrosse. There’s talk the Nationals will also incorporate Ireland’s flag at the Games.By Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star

Irish born Peadar Townsend lives an exceptionally diverse and exciting musical career. A professional composer, percussionist, and educator he has worked in almost every conceivable branch of professional music. As a Percussion player he has 25 years· experience ranging from Orchestra to Opera, West End shows to film and T.V. soundtrack recording and has toured the world extensively. His compositions and arrangements have been recorded and performed around the world and his uniquely descriptive style of composition is both easy to listen to and imaginative. Using his performing experiences Peadar uses a keen sense of instrument colours to match the picture he is painting in music. His enormous variety of musical experiences give him the perfect knowledge for this most exciting and unique project.  He describes himself as ·a storyteller with music·. Meet Peadar.Peadar’s Inspiration for Irish Folk Stories LiveAs a child growing up my Father used to fascinate me with all manner of Irish Folk Stories at bedtime or in the car on a long journey. Not from a book, but from his head and every time he told them they were different, full of exciting characters with lashings of wonder, magic and mystery. The idea of marrying these wonderful stories with exciting, descriptive music struck me as an amazing project to bring them to new heights and re-ignite their proud place in Irish culture around the world.About PeadarIrish born Peadar Townsend lives an exceptionally diverse and exciting musical career. A professional composer, percussionist, and educator he has worked in almost every conceivable branch of professional music. As a Percussion player he has 25 years’ experience ranging from Orchestra to Opera, West End shows to film and T.V. soundtrack recording and has toured the world extensively.

Eleanor Shanley and John Feeley’s creative collaboration results in the release of the stunning new album Cancion de Amor this December.Recorded in the beautiful Meelick Friary nestled next to the River Shannon in Eyrecourt, Co. Galway, Cancion de Amor, the album by Eleanor Shanley and John Feeley is scheduled for release  in early December.The thirteen-track long play features so many beautiful songs including the Brendan Graham original, Cancion de Amor, which also gives the album its title. This song was gifted to Eleanor and John and they are privileged to be the first to release it. Eleanor remembers “We both fell in love with Cancion de Amor on our first listen and were thrilled when Brendan gave it to us for the record. John is our country’s finest classical guitarist and we both believe Cancion de Amor is perfect and indeed enhances our creative partnership on this record.”

William, Brian, and Luke: three boys bound by blood but split by fate, trained from birth by their wily mother to compete for her attention. They play games, as brothers do...yet even after the Drumms escape into the world beyond their windows, those games—those little cruelties—grow more sinister, more merciless, more dangerous. And with their lives entwined like the strands of a noose, only two of the brothers will survive.Crisply written and quickly paced, perfect for readers of both sophisticated literary fiction and breathtaking suspense, Little Cruelties gazes unflinchingly into the darkness: the darkness collecting in the corners of childhood homes, hiding beneath marriage beds, clasped in the palms of two brothers shaking hands. And it confirms Liz Nugent, whose novels have been celebrated as “captivating” (People) and “highly entertaining” (The Washington Post), as one of the most exciting, perceptive voices in contemporary fiction. In March 2020, just as the country went into lockdown after the pandemic of Covid 19 hit Ireland, Our Little Cruelties was published in Ireland. Nevertheless, it retained the number one spot for 12 out of the next sixteen weeks.It will be published in the UK in paperback in January 2021, and in the USA and Canada under the title ‘LITTLE CRUELTIES’ in November 2020.Aside from writing, Liz has led workshops in writing drama for broadcast in Ireland and New Zealand, she has produced and managed literary salons, interviewed many other writers and curated the literary strand of Skibbereen Arts Festival in July 2016.

Every year the Toronto Star hosts an online nomination site where people from the community can go to nominate their favourite businesses and/or professionals from the community to be recognized.The top ten (10) businesses and/or professionals who have received the most nominations within each of the categories were listed on the voting site from Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 12:01 AM ET to Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 11:59 PM ET. People from the community could vote for their favourites from the official list provided during that period.There are Diamond, Platinum, and Gold winners in each category. The ten (10) professionals/businesses in each category who received the most Nominations at the end of the Nomination Period were selected as Finalist, and voted on by the public. At the end of the Voting Period, the Finalists in each category were ranked by number of votes received and:• the Finalist with the most votes in a category being selected as the “Diamond Winner”;• the Finalist with the second most votes in a category selected as the “Platinum Winner”;• the Finalist with the third most votes in a category selected as the “Gold Winner”; and• each of the remaining Finalists selected as a “Top Ten Winner.”